How Do You Make a Wind Turbine for a School Project?

Make a wind turbine for a school project by visiting TheSelfSufficientLiving.com, checking out their collection of homemade wind turbine designs and following the instructions to build a simple wind generator. The designs range from simple to moderately ambitious, so choose one that seems to be the most doable.

The list of DIY wind turbine projects at TheSelfSufficientLiving.com provides enough details in the descriptions to choose among the projects, as of 2015. Most of the projects also include a picture or a set of pictures so students can get an idea of what they would be building. To access the more detailed instructions, one has to visit the source sites for each of the designs.

One project on the list, from PopularMechanics.com, is provided by Michael Arquin, founder of the KidWind Project. As a KidWind project, this is the most practical for a school project, and the site specifically states that even young engineers can finish this in about two hours. This is a PVC turbine design, so the major parts are PVC pipes, couplers and fittings. A KidWind building kit is available for purchase for the motor and sound and light board portions of the turbine. The fourth project on the list links to a more detailed project package on the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy website.

The seventh project on the list, a mini wind turbine, also seem to be feasible for students although it requires the purchase of a DC motor and a propeller from eBay. The other components are a block of wood, a drill, washers, an axle and pipes. The instructions for this on TheSelfSufficientLiving.com are very basic, and a link is provided to a video tutorial for the project.